cuillervscuilleréeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“cuiller” and “cuillerée” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#37,263
“cuiller” frequency rank
#49,014
“cuillerée” frequency rank
86277
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cuiller cuillerée
Definition Autre orthographe possible pour cuillère. Ce que contient une cuillère.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cuiller and cuillerée apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
cuiller
9 ch
cuillerée

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. cuiller (\kɥi.jɛʁ\) and cuillerée (\kɥij.ʁe\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “cuiller” sits inside “cuillerée”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 86277, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cuiller is recorded at frequency rank #37,263, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɥi.jɛʁ\. cuillerée is at rank #49,014, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɥij.ʁe\.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 86277, this pair ranks #9,967 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cuiller vs cuillerée

Shared letters: ceilru. Private to "cuiller": -. Private to "cuillerée": é.

"cuiller" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC  ·  "cuillerée" · 9 letters · shape CVVCCVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cuillerccuiller · ciuller · cuilelr · cuiler · cuillerr · cuillre · culiler · uciller

Frequency comparison

cuiller#37,263
cuillerée#49,014

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cuiller" and "cuillerée" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kɥi.jɛʁ\ versus \kɥij.ʁe\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cuiller" or "cuillerée"?
"cuiller" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #37,263 in our French list, against #49,014 for "cuillerée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cuiller vs cuillerée

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cuiller” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list